Forever
by artgurl8D
Summary: How long is forever?


…_.forever? she teasingly asked. Her hazel eyes sparkled. Her face was beautiful, and a wide smile covered her face._

Legolas blinked his eyes, seemingly coming out of a trance.

" I said, 'What's it like to live forever?'" Pippin asked Legolas .The Fellowship had been walking for miles and it wasn't even lunch time yet. Pippin was already bored.

Legolas noticed that most of the fellowship was looking at him. The hobbits were curious. Gimli was pretending to be indifferent, while Boromir was looking perplexed. Aragorn and Gandalf looked concerned.

The elf gave a small, sad smile. "Well, I have not yet lived for forever. I do not know."

Pippin looked so much like her just then. Those beautiful, hazel eyes shone with open curiosity and innocence. She was always curious and she never lost her innocence. He had always been a bit jealous about that. Even after all of the terrible things they had seen, she was still able to remain curious and innocent.

Pippin's face fell a little as he processed those words. "Oh" was all he said before he launched into another series of questions for the day.

This time, Legolas's smile was not so sad.

* * *

"_Why do you look so sad?" she asked with bright eyes brimming with tears. He **knew** that she knew why, and he **knew** that she believed that he needed to talk this through. _

_So he did._

"Why does he look so sad?" Frodo quietly asked Strider while both were sitting on watch.

Legolas was supposed to be sleeping. He _knows_ he looks like he is sleeping, but he cannot find rest in these woods. Something has been following the fellowship, and rest does not come easily.

"Well," Strider starts hesitantly, "he has seen much in his time. He is young among his kin, but Legolas has walked thousands of years upon Arda. To see so much …. death…. and war, can weigh heavily on the soul."

Frodo simply nodded. He was beginning to understand that by the end of this quest, he too would be changed.

Legolas sighs. He knows this too and his heart grieves even more.

* * *

"_Can you hear them?" she asks. She stares intently into the tree above her. She is determined to finish this game of hide and seek. There is playfulness in her eyes…. and love. It makes him forget his troubles and responsibilities, for awhile._

"Look laddie! Can you hear them?" Gimli asks in wonder. "I have never seen these gulls before."

The ship they are on continues to rock with the current. The three Hunters are on their way to Gondor to do battle.

"Aye, I can hear them." Legolas replies, almost bitterly.

"Beware the Sea!" Galadriel had warned. Did she not know how Legolas already suffered? Long ago had the cry of the Sea been within his heart! Long ago had it been awakened! Did she not already know of his affliction? His heart, his _soul_ had not rested in Arda for a very long time.

Both Gimli and Aragorn noticed his tone, but chose not to comment.

* * *

"_What ails him?" she asked. There was great worry in her eyes for her wounded friend._

_They had just fought a battle. She was tired, sweaty, and bloody, but right now, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. She had survived._

"What ails him?" Gimli voice floats through the cracked doors that lead to Aragorn's personal study.

Legolas had been walking by, on his way to the training grounds for some practice, when he had heard his friend's voice. All of this celebrating the return of Gondor's king had made him go soft.

"It…. is not my story to tell, my friend." Aragorn cautiously replies.

"….. so, you do know what's wrong?" the dwarf asks again.

"Yes. I do, but you need to ask him."

Curiously, the dwarf bursts into laughter. "My dear Aragorn," he begins," that is not how it works. When he is ready to speak to me about something, he will."

Outside the door, Legolas gives a small smile and continues on his way.

* * *

"_Where are we?" she asks joyously._

_Legolas is walking beside and slightly behind her, with his hands covering her eyes. He is leading her through the field, and he can see the pure joy on her face, even with his hand covering her eyes._

"Where are we?" the dwarf's gruff voice asks with worry.

"We are at the Grey Havens, and this," the elf gestures to the small boat tethered to the dock, " is the boat I must take. It is my time, mellon nin. "

"Oh,…. well of course." The dwarf hurriedly mumbles as his countenance falls. " I knew _that_."

Legolas stifled a small smile, "I would have you come with me, though. I cannot bear this alone, gwador. I would have us take one last adventure together."

A slow smile appeared on Gimli's old, wrinkled face. "Yes, one last adventure would do my old bones well."

Legolas allowed a grin to appear on his face, before sadness once again reigned. "Good," he began, "and I must tell you a tale as we sail."

And so he did. He told a tale of an elf maiden named Nimaear and himself. He told the dwarf of their love and the millennia they had spent together. He told of the many joyous times they shared, the sorrows, and even some pains. They were two halves of a whole, and they could speak to each other without words. They knew each other better than they knew themselves.

He even told Gimli how, when he had asked for Nimaear's hand in marriage, she had responded by teasingly asking, "Will you love me forever?" and that this had somehow become a private joke between them. They would ask this to each other when they were going to battles, or just going to councils.

And he finally told his closest friend, how Nimaear had asked this question as he had held his lover as she died.

A painful ache had taken residence in his chest as he had told her that he would, until the ending of the world.

And she had breathed her last.

* * *

"_Look! We're here!" she cried. This remote lake had always been her favorite. Joy would cover her face everytime they came, which was not often these days. _

_She took off at a sprint and dove for the water. Legolas laughed like he had not done in many months. There were many good memories here._

" Look! We're here!" Legolas's stout travelling companion cried.

Legolas awoke to the boat coming to shore and many elves waiting to greet the new comers to Valinor.

Stepping off the small craft, Legolas was engulfed in the arms of his father and mother. His brothers and sister were also there to greet him. To a bystander, the scene on the shore was chaotic and there were many shouts of joy and equally many tears from the gathered elves.

Legolas was glad he was able to be reunited with his family. This was a great gift from Eru and some of the painful ache eased in his cheast. Everyone was calling his name and hugging him. Legolas was becoming slightly overwhelmed, but he was happier than he had been in many years.

Right behind him, a clear voice cut through the noise. "Will you love me forever?" it asked.

Stilling his movements, Legolas slowly turned and came face to face with Nimaear.

His only reply was to cup her face with his hands and uninhibitedly kiss her before all those present. Many cheered for the two elves.

After some time, they broke apart. Breathlessly, they rested their foreheads together and their eyes closed. They relished in the feel of each other, the oneness that being together brought.

For the first time since Gimli met Legolas, he saw a true smile of joy appear on the elf's face.

Finally, after a few minutes, both elves opened their eyes and turned to the dwarf.

"Gimli," Legolas began with unconcealed joy," _this_ is Nimaear."

* * *

Nimaear can be broken down into Nim which means white and Aear which means Sea. soooo White Sea is her name.- "Beware the Sea!"

Please review, tell me what you think! I am not a professional writer, so I need help!

And for those of you who are reading my other story ( which this story has nothing to do with - like not from the same universe! two totally different Leoglas' ), don't worry! Ill prob have an update either tomorrow or the day after. Just had to get this out before i forgot lol

Thanks for reading!


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